It was late summer - early fall in Seattle and an uncommonly warm dry day. The year was 1972 and I was nearing my 22nd birthday. I had attended a day long seminar and the day was coming to an end. This is what I felt.
Firewalker
I helped as the cedar was neatly laid. First vertically around the perimeter bordering a space that was four feet wide and forty feet long. Then filling in the border with more cedar. We stacked it two feet high in a criss cross grid within the border walls surrounding it. I thought it looked like a funeral pyre for a family but no one had died. This fire was for us, those who dared to challenge the reality of who they were. We had attended a seminar all day and the night was beginning. Diane, a nice looking young woman had talked about the fire all day and how it would call you. She had said it was up to us whether to answer the call. Well the fire wasn’t there yet, just a pile of wood. Then Diane came out and handed each of us a torch. We lit our torches from a pedestal with a dished top sporting a curiously blue flame. Diane positioned us around the wood and told us to bring the fire to life. As it began to burn it was a gentle flame licking the wood like a shy child licked the first taste of a new treat. That mental image quickly left as the flames consumed the pile of wood sporting flames that reached toward the sky high above our heads. We had to move back to shield ourselves from the heat of the fire. This monster wasn’t calling to anyone, it was roaring to beware.
I was held captive by the ferocity of the flames and the heat it was radiating. I thought that some how this night was going to affect me in ways that I was not prepared for. I stopped noticing anyone else around me and was facing my education that this could kill me. There was no doubt in my mind that this was a dangerous place to be and I wanted to run. I didn’t run I stood there transfixed by the fire, its birth, its rapid rise to power and now, its slow weakening to a bed of glowing coals that were hot enough to burn meat on. I turned to find Diane, she was in the classroom and I caught her alone. I told her of my fear and she listened, When I finished she took my hand and told me that if I was not called to walk this fire there would be others. She told me that standing at the south end of that long bed of burning coals it was impossible to cross that path. Then she smiled and said that when I reached the north end of that bed of coals it would be easy. I understood what she was saying and the impossible remains impossible until you do it. She told me to think about it and left to receive the walkers as they reached the end of the path. I thought about it and knew if I walked away it would only be harder the next time. I walked to the south side of that long trail and removed my shoes and socks. I was rolling up my pant legs when the big guy standing with the path in front of him turned and stepped away. Now I heard the fire call to me. It was a soft call that could be ignored but it was also seductive like the whisper of a woman with desire burning. I looked at the coals and there was no doubt that they were hot. I looked to the end and I saw Diane and others who had done this walk. I looked back at those burning embers and knew that before me was an impossible path. I stepped out onto those glowing coals and felt only the crunch of the burning wood give way under my feet. I felt like I was walking on crusted snow. There was no pain, no panic, no magical mantra, just me walking. Too quickly to think about it I was off the coals and Diane had her arms around me saying how proud she was. She told me that I was a powerful man and I did the impossible. I suddenly realized that my feet were freezing from the water they were spraying on them, and then it hit me, like a bus slamming into me. There was nothing I could not do. I had done the impossible and was better for it. From this point on there was no excuse for fear limiting my actions.
If you have walked the fire, you understand, we are kin. If you have never walked the fire then search for a firewalk. Do the impossible! Begin to know your real potential and forget your limitations. That big guy that had turned away just before I walked went back to the south end of that path once more before taking his step onto the coals. He too conquered his fear and walked the fire. He is a greater man than I, his fear was much stronger than mine and he beat it! We are brothers. We have walked the fire.
Copyright © 1972 Paul Stephens
I was looking through the old files on my computer and found this in with some poetry I had written before, during and after my divorce. I thought I would share this so you can better understand me. It was not the last fire I walked but it was the first. We are all capable of so much more than we are taught - be extraordinary! Be YOU.
Firewalker
I helped as the cedar was neatly laid. First vertically around the perimeter bordering a space that was four feet wide and forty feet long. Then filling in the border with more cedar. We stacked it two feet high in a criss cross grid within the border walls surrounding it. I thought it looked like a funeral pyre for a family but no one had died. This fire was for us, those who dared to challenge the reality of who they were. We had attended a seminar all day and the night was beginning. Diane, a nice looking young woman had talked about the fire all day and how it would call you. She had said it was up to us whether to answer the call. Well the fire wasn’t there yet, just a pile of wood. Then Diane came out and handed each of us a torch. We lit our torches from a pedestal with a dished top sporting a curiously blue flame. Diane positioned us around the wood and told us to bring the fire to life. As it began to burn it was a gentle flame licking the wood like a shy child licked the first taste of a new treat. That mental image quickly left as the flames consumed the pile of wood sporting flames that reached toward the sky high above our heads. We had to move back to shield ourselves from the heat of the fire. This monster wasn’t calling to anyone, it was roaring to beware.
I was held captive by the ferocity of the flames and the heat it was radiating. I thought that some how this night was going to affect me in ways that I was not prepared for. I stopped noticing anyone else around me and was facing my education that this could kill me. There was no doubt in my mind that this was a dangerous place to be and I wanted to run. I didn’t run I stood there transfixed by the fire, its birth, its rapid rise to power and now, its slow weakening to a bed of glowing coals that were hot enough to burn meat on. I turned to find Diane, she was in the classroom and I caught her alone. I told her of my fear and she listened, When I finished she took my hand and told me that if I was not called to walk this fire there would be others. She told me that standing at the south end of that long bed of burning coals it was impossible to cross that path. Then she smiled and said that when I reached the north end of that bed of coals it would be easy. I understood what she was saying and the impossible remains impossible until you do it. She told me to think about it and left to receive the walkers as they reached the end of the path. I thought about it and knew if I walked away it would only be harder the next time. I walked to the south side of that long trail and removed my shoes and socks. I was rolling up my pant legs when the big guy standing with the path in front of him turned and stepped away. Now I heard the fire call to me. It was a soft call that could be ignored but it was also seductive like the whisper of a woman with desire burning. I looked at the coals and there was no doubt that they were hot. I looked to the end and I saw Diane and others who had done this walk. I looked back at those burning embers and knew that before me was an impossible path. I stepped out onto those glowing coals and felt only the crunch of the burning wood give way under my feet. I felt like I was walking on crusted snow. There was no pain, no panic, no magical mantra, just me walking. Too quickly to think about it I was off the coals and Diane had her arms around me saying how proud she was. She told me that I was a powerful man and I did the impossible. I suddenly realized that my feet were freezing from the water they were spraying on them, and then it hit me, like a bus slamming into me. There was nothing I could not do. I had done the impossible and was better for it. From this point on there was no excuse for fear limiting my actions.
If you have walked the fire, you understand, we are kin. If you have never walked the fire then search for a firewalk. Do the impossible! Begin to know your real potential and forget your limitations. That big guy that had turned away just before I walked went back to the south end of that path once more before taking his step onto the coals. He too conquered his fear and walked the fire. He is a greater man than I, his fear was much stronger than mine and he beat it! We are brothers. We have walked the fire.
Copyright © 1972 Paul Stephens
I was looking through the old files on my computer and found this in with some poetry I had written before, during and after my divorce. I thought I would share this so you can better understand me. It was not the last fire I walked but it was the first. We are all capable of so much more than we are taught - be extraordinary! Be YOU.
